Senior Cameron McGrath runs towards first base after hitting a ball earlier this year against Western Oregon University. McGrath is one of 15 seniors on the baseball team that received an extra year of eligibility from the NCAA. The seniors get to decide whether or not they want to come back and play their final season next year.

With their season ending early, some members of CWU’s baseball team are still processing that they may have already played the final game of their collegiate career.

Their season came to an early end on March 12 when the GNAC suspended all spring competitions due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Senior outfielder Jaden Hassell said players have reacted to the news differently.

“A lot of my teammates are just figuring it out,” Hassell said. 

The team learned their season was cancelled while preparing for a series against Montana State University Billings. Hassell said as players saw other leagues being postponed, the team realized the GNAC would soon be next.

“It felt inevitable,” Hassell said. “I think we were all really crushed.”

Senior outfielder Justin Hampson said when players received the news that their season was suspended, they were unsure of the next steps.

“We didn’t know what to do, we didn’t know how to react,” Hampson said.

Hampson and Hassell both said the team was playing their best baseball of the season just before the cancellation. While the team had gotten off to a slow 6-12 start to their season, they split four games against Western Oregon, which ended up being their final series of the season.

Hassell said splitting a series against a team like that showed they were just starting to reach their potential as a team.

“We were coming into our own,” Hassell said. “It’s the one year where you want everything to go right.”

With all gyms in the state closed for the foreseeable future, both players have found creative ways to stay active. Hassell said he has been running and filling buckets with water “just to lift something heavy.”

Hampson said he has been doing home workouts and is just trying to stay as active as possible.

“It’s real tough being locked up,” Hampson said.

Hampson said he is still trying to figure out exactly how he feels about their season being cancelled, and that he can’t really put it into words.

But this season may not be the end to either athlete’s collegiate career. An NCAA ruling gave spring sport athletes an extra year of eligibility, meaning both Hampson and Hassell could come back next year to play. 

Hampson said he plans on returning to Ellensburg next season.

“I made a decision I want to come back next year and do it right,” Hampson said. “It doesn’t feel like it ended right.”

Hassell said he is still debating whether to return for another season and has yet to make a final decision.

The team is considering heavy decisions and everyone is trying to navigate what has become a new normal for athletes around the world.

“Sports teaches us we’re going to get knocked down and struggle,” Hassell said. “Sports has prepared us for something like this.”